Wednesday, May 18, 2011

Since I started my lost and found site one year ago, I have been contacted by two individuals asking me to post their lost dogs to the site. Both dogs had been left in the care of Craig Wright's FACW K9 Dog Training & Rehabilitation Centre Inc. Unfortunately for the owners, to date neither dog has been returned.

Within the last week, even more individuals have come forward through social media, and their communal discovery is horrifying. Apparently, these occurrences are not just limited to one, two, or even three dogs. At least four individuals have come forward to speak up for their dogs, and speak out against Craig Wright. Three dogs have, according to their owners, simply vanished.. One other was returned to his owner with a broken leg.

While none of these accusations has yet been proven (police and OSPCA officials laid several charges against Wright yesterday), one must wonder : when does a coincidence stop being just that?

Kodiak

This evening I spoke with Janet Noddle, one such owner. Two years ago, Janet left her two dogs, Jake and Kodiak, at Mr. Wright's facility in Ajax, for the purposes of behaviour modification (in this instance, barking). One week later, when Ms. Noddle went to the facility for an update, she noticed that Jake seemed somewhat "off", though she certainly did not assume that anything was serious. The following week however, Mr Wright called her to tell her that Kodiak, her Pomeranian, had run away when he had taken off the dog's collar (Ms Noddle contends that throughout the two weeks, when she had occasionally called to check up on her dogs, Mr. Wright had told her that he didn't trust Kodiak off leash).

From that point on, says Ms. Noodle, things went from bad to worse. When she went to meet Mr. Wright for a search for Kodiak, he told her that he had put up posters nearby. When she saw the poster, something didn't sit right with Ms. Noodle, as the dog in the picture only looked similar to her Kodiak (later that evening, Ms. Noodle's daughter ran a generic image search on Google for "Pomeranian", and sure enough found the exact image that Mr. Wright had used for the poster). In addition, according to Ms. Noodle, Mr. Wright told her that if Kodiak was not found by nightfall, than surely the dog would be killed by coyotes.

Meanwhile, with regard to Jake, Ms. Noodle had instructed Mr. Wright that since the dog had recently gone through surgery on both knees, he was to wear a knee brace and not be exercised for more than 15 minutes at a time. Upon reuniting with Jake, Ms. Noodle noticed that he was extremely uncomfortable. A subsequent veterinary exam showed stress and inflammation in both of Jake's knees. Even more, Mr. Wright had shown Ms. Noodle an hour long video that he had taken of Jake running free the whole time!

Finally, after two years of fighting with Mr. Wright in person and in court, Janet Noodle was finally able to get at least some closure when on Monday, at a demonstration in front of the FACW facility, Craig Wright informed her that he had sold her dog. Unfortunately at this point, any statement that Craig Wright makes is wide open to speculation. All you need do is watch this recent video released by Global news and see how Mr. Wright seems indifferent when he tells the reporter that yes, he has lost "some" dogs. Perhaps giving such evasive answers is why Mr. Wright is currently charged with obstructing justice.

Chevy, another reported missing dog

In talking to Ms. Noodle, I can only imagine the horror she has lived through, and the horrors that so many more are currently living through as a result of the actions of Craig Wright. As an animal lover, I can only express such sympathy that I feel toward these people and their beloved pets, and do what little I can to ensure that no other person ever has to go through such a terrifying experience.

For more information, you can join this facebook group. In addition, protesters continue to gather in front of the FACW facility, with a large demonstration planned for this Friday between 5 and 8 pm, at 199 Waterloo St. in Oshawa. More details on the demonstration can be found on this page.

UPDATE : As of today (Thursday), Craig Wright has been arrested and is facing multiple charges. If I am correct, his first appearance will be on May 31. Stay tuned....

As always, if you have anything to add to this topic, feel free to comment on this post or contact me directly at torontopetdaily@gmail.com